Quote:
O.K., try this for size. Remember the guy who snuck into a Houston hospital room last fall with a friend and a baseball bat. That guy was Byron Donzis. In bed in that room was Dan Pastorini, the quarterback of the Oilers, who had been maimed that particular Sabbath past. Pastorini was in the hospital with broken ribs. Donzis introduced himself, and then his friend hauled off and whomped Byron across his ribs. With the baseball bat. Pastorini flinched. Donzis did not. Then Donzis showed Pastorini how he had on this dandy little inflatable vest. Soon, Pastorini was back in action, wearing one of Donzis' so-called flak jackets, and the Oilers went to the playoffs. Now the National Football League has taken Donzis under its wing and agreed to underwrite much of his research that pertains to gridiron safety.
Back when SI had THE best writers on the planet, it was a sheer joy to read the magazine. I recommend the entire article from September, 1979 by Frank DeFord